Mri-guided stereotactic surgery method

ABSTRACT

A MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method including the following steps: assigning coordinates of a surgery target point of a surgery cannula and an insertion direction of the surgery cannula; performing coordinate transformation to transform the coordinates of the surgery target point into an insertion position of the surgery target point; substituting the insertion position and the insertion direction into an inverse kinematics model to obtain five parameters respectively corresponding to five degrees of freedom of a MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device; controlling the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device according to the parameters to start a stereotactic surgery procedure, thereby inserting the surgery cannula; obtaining an actual cannula position according to a magnetic resonance (MR) image; comparing the actual cannula position with the surgery target point to obtain a position error vector; and withdrawing the surgery cannula to finish the stereotactic surgery procedure when the position error vector is acceptable.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Divisional Application of the U.S.application Ser. No. 16/691,626, filed Nov. 22, 2019, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field of Invention

The present invention relates to a MRI-guided stereotactic surgerymethod and a MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device.

Description of Related Art

Stereotactic surgery is an important core technology that has beenwidely used in the field of brain neurosurgery for biopsy, ablation anddeep brain stimulation (DBS). The stereotactic surgery is operatedthrough a small keyhole, and thus it is hard to confirm the position ofdistal end of a cannula of surgical devices, and human errors and brainshift may occur. The performance of the traditional stereotactic surgerymerely depends on accuracies of surgical devices positioning andpre-operation images. Introducing intraoperative magnetic resonanceimages (MRI) could provide real-time magnetic resonance (MR) image,thereby enhancing the accuracy of the stereotactic surgery.

In addition, integrating intraoperative magnetic resonance images (MRI)and surgical robots can further enhance the accuracy and the efficiencyof the stereotactic surgery and enhance safety of the patients. However,if the surgical robots would like to be operated in MRI scanner room,the surgical robots need to be designed to be MRI-compatible.Furthermore, the volume of the MRI-compatible robots is also limited dueto limitation of the MRI operating space.

SUMMARY

An object of the present invention is to provide a MRI-guidedstereotactic surgery method and a MRI-compatible stereotactic surgerydevice, thereby enhancing the accuracy and the efficiency of thestereotactic surgery and enhancing safety of the patients.

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a MRI-guidedstereotactic surgery method including the following steps: assigningcoordinates of a surgery target point of a surgery cannula and aninsertion direction of the surgery cannula; performing coordinatetransformation to transform the coordinates of the surgery target pointinto an insertion position of the surgery target point; substituting theinsertion position and the insertion direction into an inversekinematics model to obtain five parameters respectively corresponding tofive degrees of freedom of a MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device;controlling the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device according tothe parameters to start a stereotactic surgery procedure, therebyinserting the surgery cannula; obtaining an actual cannula positionaccording to a magnetic resonance (MR) image providing by a magneticresonance imaging (MRI) scanner; comparing the actual cannula positionwith the surgery target point to obtain a position error vector; andwithdrawing the surgery cannula to finish the stereotactic surgeryprocedure when the position error vector is acceptable.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, when theposition error vector is not acceptable, the MRI-guided stereotacticsurgery method further includes: calculating a compensation quantityaccording to the position error vector; adjusting three of theparameters according to the compensation quantity; controlling theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device according to the adjustedparameters, thereby withdrawing the surgery cannula, adjusting theinsertion position and the insertion direction of the surgery cannula,and inserting the surgery cannula again; updating the actual cannulaposition according to the MR image updating by the MRI scanner;comparing the updated actual cannula position with the surgery targetpoint to update the position error vector; and withdrawing the surgerycannula to finish the stereotactic surgery procedure when the updatedposition error vector is acceptable.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thecompensation quantity is calculated by a Taylor series expansion and byutilizing a Jacobian square matrix based on the position error vector.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, theparameters are obtained by utilizing a Newton-Raphson iterative method.

To achieve the above object, the present invention further provides aMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device including a remote center ofmotion (RCM) stage and a guiding element. The RCM stage includes a baseplate, a horizontal arc-shaped slide, a horizontal sliding stagedisposed on the horizontal arc-shaped slide, a vertical arc-shapedslide, and a vertical sliding stage disposed on the vertical arc-shapedslide. Two ends of the horizontal arc-shaped slide are fixed on the baseplate. The horizontal sliding stage includes a first friction wheel inrolling friction contact with the horizontal arc-shaped slide. Thehorizontal sliding stage moves along the horizontal arc-shaped slide ina first direction through the first friction wheel. The horizontalarc-shaped slide includes a first driven wheel for recording relativemovement between the first friction wheel and the horizontal arc-shapedslide. One end of the vertical arc-shaped slide is fixed on thehorizontal sliding stage. The vertical sliding stage includes a secondfriction wheel in rolling friction contact with the vertical arc-shapedslide. The vertical sliding stage moves along the vertical arc-shapedslide in a second direction through the second friction wheel. Thevertical arc-shaped slide includes a second driven wheel for recordingrelative movement between the second friction wheel and the verticalarc-shaped slide. The guiding element is fixed on the vertical slidingstage of the RCM stage. The guiding element includes a surgery cannula.The guiding element is configured to guide the surgery cannula to movealong a third direction, a fourth direction, and a fifth direction.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thehorizontal arc-shaped slide is ½ circular arc-shaped, and the verticalarc-shaped slide is ¼ circular arc-shaped.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device further includes at least oneelectromagnetic interference shielding cover configured to cover thehorizontal sliding stage, the vertical sliding stage, and the guidingelement. The MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device further includesplural fixed accessories configured to fix the base plate, thehorizontal arc-shaped slide, the horizontal sliding stage, the verticalarc-shaped slide, the vertical sliding stage, the guiding element, thefirst friction wheel, the first driven wheel, the second friction wheel,and the second driven wheel. The fixed accessories are made ofnon-ferromagnetic material. The base plate, the horizontal arc-shapedslide, the horizontal sliding stage, the vertical arc-shaped slide, thevertical sliding stage, and the guiding element are made of engineeringplastics. The first friction wheel, the first driven wheel, the secondfriction wheel, and the second driven wheel are made of syntheticrubber.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the guidingelement further includes two self-aligning universal ceramic bearingsmounted on the surgery cannula so as to adjust an insertion direction ofthe surgery cannula.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thehorizontal sliding stage further includes a first piezoelectric motorand the vertical sliding stage further includes a second piezoelectricmotor. The first piezoelectric motor is configured to drive the firstfriction wheel, such that the horizontal sliding stage moves along thehorizontal arc-shaped slide in the first direction. The secondpiezoelectric motor is configured to drive the second friction wheel,such that the vertical sliding stage to move along the verticalarc-shaped slide in the second direction.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thehorizontal sliding stage further includes a first optical encoderconnected to the first driven wheel and the vertical sliding stagefurther includes a second optical encoder connected to the second drivenwheel. The first optical encoder is configured to record relativemovement between the first friction wheel and the horizontal arc-shapedslide. The second optical encoder is configured to record relativemovement between the second friction wheel and the vertical arc-shapedslide.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the guidingelement further includes a rotary piezoelectric motor and two linearpiezoelectric motors. The rotary piezoelectric motor is configured todrive the surgery cannula to move along the third direction. Two linearpiezoelectric motors are respectively configured to drive the surgerycannula to move along the fourth direction and the fifth direction. Therotary piezoelectric motor drives the surgery cannula through asynchronous timing belt and a belt pulley.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, the guidingelement further includes a rotary piezoelectric motor and a linearpiezoelectric motor. The rotary piezoelectric motor is configured todrive the surgery cannula to move along the third direction. The linearpiezoelectric motor is configured to drive the surgery cannula to movealong the fourth direction. The rotary piezoelectric motor drives thesurgery cannula through a synchronous timing belt and a belt pulley. Thefifth direction is reserved for manual insertion of the surgery cannulaby a surgeon.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device further includes acontrolling computer connected to the first piezoelectric motor, thesecond piezoelectric motor, the linear piezoelectric motors, and therotary piezoelectric motor. The controlling computer is configured todrive the first piezoelectric motor, the second piezoelectric motor, thelinear piezoelectric motors, and the rotary piezoelectric motor, therebycontrolling the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device with fivedegrees of freedom.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thecontrolling computer is further configured to reduce relative slideerror between the first friction wheel and the horizontal arc-shapedslide according to relative movement between the first friction wheeland the horizontal arc-shaped slide which is recorded by the firstoptical encoder. The controlling computer is further configured toreduce relative slide error between the second friction wheel and thevertical arc-shaped slide according to relative movement between thesecond friction wheel and the vertical arc-shaped slide which isrecorded by the second optical encoder.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device further includes pluralsignal lines connected from the controlling computer to the firstpiezoelectric motor, the second piezoelectric motor, the linearpiezoelectric motors, and the rotary piezoelectric motor. The signallines are covered by electromagnetic interference shielding material.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thecontrolling computer is built in a forward kinematics model and aninverse kinematics model.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thecontrolling computer is further configured to: assign coordinates of asurgery target point of the surgery cannula and an insertion directionof the surgery cannula; perform coordinate transformation to transformthe coordinates of the surgery target point into an insertion positionof the surgery target point; assign a surgery target point correspondingto an insertion position and an insertion direction of the surgerycannula; control the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery deviceaccording to the parameters to start a stereotactic surgery procedure,thereby inserting the surgery cannula; obtain an actual cannula positionaccording to a MR image providing by a MRI scanner; compare the actualcannula position with the surgery target point to obtain a positionerror vector; and control the linear piezoelectric motors to withdrawthe surgery cannula to finish the stereotactic surgery procedure whenthe position error vector is acceptable.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, when theposition error vector is not acceptable, the controlling computer isfurther configured to: calculate a compensation quantity according tothe position error vector; drive the linear piezoelectric motors and therotary piezoelectric motor according to the compensation quantity,thereby withdrawing the surgery cannula, adjusting the insertionposition and the insertion direction of the surgery cannula, andinserting the surgery cannula again; update the actual cannula positionaccording to the MR image updating by the MRI scanner; compare theupdated actual cannula position with the surgery target point to updatethe position error vector; and withdraw the surgery cannula to finishthe stereotactic surgery procedure when the updated position errorvector is acceptable.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, thecompensation quantity is calculated by a Taylor series expansion and byutilizing a Jacobian square matrix based on the position error vector.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention, theparameters are obtained by utilizing a Newton-Raphson iterative method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be more fully understood by reading the followingdetailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to theaccompanying drawings as follows:

FIG. 1 illustrates a remote center of motion (RCM) stage of aMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device according to some embodimentsof the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an explosion drawing of a horizontal sliding stageand a vertical sliding stage of the RCM stage of the MRI-compatiblestereotactic surgery device according to some embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery deviceaccording to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a guiding element of the MRI-compatible stereotacticsurgery device according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery deviceaccording to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the flow chart of the MRI-guided stereotactic surgerymethod according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates the flow chart of one of steps of the MRI-guidedstereotactic surgery method according to some embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments of the present invention are further described indetail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, however, theembodiments described are not intended to limit the present inventionand it is not intended for the description of operation to limit theorder of implementation. Moreover, any device with equivalent functionsthat is produced from a structure formed by a recombination of elementsshall fall within the scope of the present invention. Additionally, thedrawings are only illustrative and are not drawn to actual size.

Moreover, unless specified otherwise, “first,” “second,” or the like arenot intended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering,etc. Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. forfeatures, elements, items, etc. For example, a first element and asecond element generally correspond to element A and element B or twodifferent or two identical elements or the same element.

FIG. 1 illustrates a remote center of motion (RCM) stage 100 of aMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device according to some embodimentsof the present invention. The RCM stage 100 includes a base plate 110, ahorizontal arc-shaped slide 120, a horizontal sliding stage 130, avertical arc-shaped slide 140, and a vertical sliding stage 150.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120 is ½ circulararc-shaped, and two ends of the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120 arefixed on the base plate 110. The horizontal sliding stage 130 isdisposed on the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120. FIG. 2 illustrates anexplosion drawing of the horizontal sliding stage 130 and the verticalsliding stage 150 of the RCM stage 100 of the MRI-compatiblestereotactic surgery device according to some embodiments of the presentinvention. The horizontal sliding stage 130 includes a piezoelectricmotor 131, a friction wheel 132, a driven wheel 133, and an opticalencoder 134 electrically connected to the driven wheel 133. The frictionwheel 132 is placed onto shaft of the piezoelectric motor 131, and thefriction wheel 132 is disposed to be in rolling friction contact withthe horizontal arc-shaped slide 120. The piezoelectric motor 131 isconfigured to drive the friction wheel 132. Specifically, the frictionwheel 132 is caused to rotate by means of the piezoelectric motor 131.When the friction wheel 132 rotates, there is friction force generatingbetween the friction wheel 132 and the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120,so as to drive the horizontal sliding stage 130 to move along thehorizontal arc-shaped slide 120 in a first direction θ₁. The relativemovement between the friction wheel 132 and the horizontal arc-shapedslide 120 may cause the relative slide error between the friction wheel132 and the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120, and therefore the drivenwheel 133 and the optical encoder 134 are configured to record therelative movement between the friction wheel 132 and the horizontalarc-shaped slide 120. Specifically, the amount of rotation of the drivenwheel 133 corresponds to the relative movement between the frictionwheel 132 and the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120, and the opticalencoder 134 can measure the amount of rotation of the driven wheel 133,and thus the relative movement between the friction wheel 132 and thehorizontal arc-shaped slide 120 can be recorded. Once the relativemovement between the friction wheel 132 and the horizontal arc-shapedslide 120 is considered, the relative slide error between the frictionwheel 132 and the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120 could be reduced bymeans of some known methods.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the vertical arc-shaped slide 140 is ¼ circulararc-shaped, and one end of the vertical arc-shaped slide 140 is fixed onthe horizontal sliding stage 130. The vertical arc-shaped slide 140 andthe horizontal arc-shaped slide 120 are not in contact with each other.Specifically, when the horizontal sliding stage 130 moves along thehorizontal arc-shaped slide 120 in the first direction θ₁, the verticalarc-shaped slide 140 fixed on the horizontal sliding stage 130 alsomoves in the first direction θ₁ accordingly.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the vertical sliding stage 150 isdisposed on the vertical arc-shaped slide 140. The vertical slidingstage 150 includes a piezoelectric motor 151, a friction wheel 152, adriven wheel 153, and an optical encoder 154 electrically connected tothe driven wheel 153. The friction wheel 152 is placed onto shaft of thepiezoelectric motor 151, and the friction wheel 152 is disposed to be inrolling friction contact with the vertical arc-shaped slide 140. Thepiezoelectric motor 151 is configured to drive the friction wheel 152.Specifically, the friction wheel 152 is caused to rotate by means of thepiezoelectric motor 151. When the friction wheel 152 rotates, there isfriction force generating between the friction wheel 152 and thevertical arc-shaped slide 140, so as to drive the vertical sliding stage150 to move along the vertical arc-shaped slide 140 in a seconddirection θ₂. It is worth mentioning that, as shown in FIG. 1 , thevertical arc-shaped slide 140 further includes a stop piece 142, so asto prevent the vertical sliding stage 150 sliding out of the verticalarc-shaped slide 140. The relative movement between the friction wheel152 and the vertical arc-shaped slide 140 may cause the relative slideerror between the friction wheel 152 and the vertical arc-shaped slide140, and therefore the driven wheel 153 and the optical encoder 154 areconfigured to record the relative movement between the friction wheel152 and the vertical arc-shaped slide 140. Specifically, the amount ofrotation of the driven wheel 153 corresponds to the relative movementbetween the friction wheel 152 and the vertical arc-shaped slide 140,and the optical encoder 154 can measure the amount of rotation of thedriven wheel 153, and thus the relative movement between the frictionwheel 152 and the vertical arc-shaped slide 140 can be recorded. Oncethe relative movement between the friction wheel 152 and the verticalarc-shaped slide 140 is considered, the relative slide error between thefriction wheel 152 and the vertical arc-shaped slide 140 could bereduced by means of some known methods.

It is worth mentioning that the movement of the horizontal sliding stage130 and the movement of the vertical sliding stage 150 are driven byrolling friction force. Comparing with the known gear driving devices,the present disclosure could avoid the problem of position errors causedby gear backlash.

It is worth mentioning that, when the horizontal sliding stage 130 movesalong the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120, the movement drag of thehorizontal sliding stage 130 is only friction between the horizontalsliding stage 130 and the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120, and when thevertical sliding stage 150 moves along the vertical arc-shaped slide140, the movement drag of the vertical sliding stage 150 is only thefriction between the vertical sliding stage 150 and the verticalarc-shaped slide 140 and the weight of the vertical sliding stage 150.Therefore, such a low drag design can reduce the high torque requirementof the driving motor (i.e., the piezoelectric motor 131 and thepiezoelectric motor 151), and therefore the volume of the piezoelectricmotor 131 and the piezoelectric motor 151 could be reduced. In otherwords, the volume of the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10could be reduced accordingly.

FIG. 3 illustrates the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10according to some embodiments of the present invention. As shown in FIG.1 and FIG. 3 , the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10includes the RCM stage 100 and a guiding element 200. The guidingelement 200 is fixed on the vertical sliding stage 150 of the RCM stage100. Specifically, when the horizontal sliding stage 130 moves along thehorizontal arc-shaped slide 120 in the first direction θ₁ and/or thevertical sliding stage 150 moves along the vertical arc-shaped slide 140in the second direction θ₂, the guiding element 200 fixed on thevertical sliding stage 150 also moves in the first direction θ₁ and/orthe second direction θ₂ accordingly.

FIG. 4 illustrates the guiding element 200 of the MRI-compatiblestereotactic surgery device 10 according to some embodiments of thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , the guiding element200 includes a surgery cannula 210, two self-aligning universal ceramicbearings 220 and 230, a rotary piezoelectric motor 260, and two linearpiezoelectric motors 240 and 250. Two self-aligning universal ceramicbearings 220 and 230 are fixed on the frame of guiding element 200. Thesurgery cannula 210 is mounted on two sides of the self-aligninguniversal ceramic bearings 220 and 230, thereby allowing adjusting aninsertion direction (i.e., a tilt angle) of the surgery cannula 210within a limited range.

The rotary piezoelectric motor 260 and the linear piezoelectric motors240 are respectively configured to drive the surgery cannula 210 to movealong the third direction θ₃ and the fourth direction δ. The rotarypiezoelectric motor 260 drives the surgery cannula 210 through asynchronous timing belt 262 and a belt pulley 264. The linearpiezoelectric motor 250 is configured to drive the surgery cannula 210to move along the fifth direction ζ. Specifically, the insertiondirection (i.e., a tilt angle) of the surgery cannula 210 corresponds tothe third direction θ₃ and the fourth direction δ, and thus theinsertion direction of the surgery cannula 210 is controlled by therotary piezoelectric motor 260 and the linear piezoelectric motors 240.Specifically, an insertion depth of the surgery cannula 210 correspondsto the fifth direction ζ, and thus the insertion depth of the surgerycannula 210 is controlled by the linear piezoelectric motors 250.

In some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the guiding elementof the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device may include only onelinear piezoelectric motor, instead of two linear piezoelectric motors.The only one linear piezoelectric motor of the guiding element of theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device of some other embodiments ofthe present disclosure is configured to drive the surgery cannula tomove along the fourth direction. It is noted that, in some otherembodiments of the present disclosure, the fifth direction is reservedfor manual insertion of the surgery cannula by the surgeon. Furthermore,in some other embodiments of the present disclosure, there are scaleslabeled on the surgery cannula and/or there is a positioning componentmatching the surgery cannula, so as to control the amount of insertion.

It is noted that the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 ofthe present disclosure only needs five degrees of freedom (DOF), i.e.,the first direction θ₁, the second direction θ₂, the third direction θ₃,the fourth direction δ, and the fifth direction ζ. In contrast, thetraditional stereotactic surgery environments need six degrees offreedom or more than six degrees of freedom. Although more degrees offreedom represents larger stereotactic operating space, however, from amedical point of view, the stereotactic operating space of the brainneurosurgery for biopsy, ablation and/or deep brain stimulation (DBS)only need to cover the brain, and therefore the stereotactic surgerydoes not need too much work space. Therefore, the MRI-compatiblestereotactic surgery device 10 having five degrees of freedom couldreduce the requirement of the amount of the motors, thereby reducing theinterference to the magnetic resonance (MR) image and reducing thevolume of the entire device.

It is worth mentioning that the piezoelectric motor 131, thepiezoelectric motor 151, the linear piezoelectric motor 240 and 250, andthe rotary piezoelectric motor 260 are anti-magnetic piezoelectricmotors which are made of non-magnetic piezoelectric ceramic material.The anti-magnetic piezoelectric motors are not driven by magnetic force,and therefore the anti-magnetic piezoelectric motors could be normallyoperated in environment with strong magnetic field. In addition, theanti-magnetic piezoelectric motors have a relatively high holding torqueat rest, and thus when the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10introduces external force to perform surgery cannula insertion, themotor shaft angle errors caused by the external force could be reduced.

It is worth mentioning that the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgerydevice 10 further includes plural electromagnetic interference shieldingcovers (not shown) respectively configured to cover the horizontalsliding stage 130, the vertical sliding stage 150, and the guidingelement 200. The electromagnetic interference shielding covers areconfigured to electromagnetically shield the aforementionedanti-magnetic piezoelectric motors and the aforementioned opticalencoders from interfering with the magnetic resonance (MR) image. Theelectromagnetic interference shielding covers could be copper shieldingcovers, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example,aluminum or a material having low magnetic susceptibility ornon-ferromagnetic material may be used as a material for forming theelectromagnetic interference shielding covers.

It is worth mentioning that the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgerydevice 10 further includes plural fixed accessories (not shown) (e.g.,screws, nuts, and so on) configured to fix plural mechanics parts of thebase plate 110, the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120, the horizontalsliding stage 130, the vertical arc-shaped slide 140, the verticalsliding stage 150, the guiding element 200, the friction wheels 132 and152, and the driven wheels 133 and 153. The fixed accessories could bemade of copper, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Forexample, aluminum or a material having low magnetic susceptibility ornon-ferromagnetic material may be used as a material for forming thefixed accessories with high tensile strength. Therefore, these fixedaccessories having low magnetic susceptibility could avoid missileeffect caused by the strong magnetic field, and reduce the eddy currentgenerated by the RF pulse, and further reduce the heating effect andelectromagnetic wave interference.

It is worth mentioning that the mechanics parts of the base plate 110,the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120, the horizontal sliding stage 130,the vertical arc-shaped slide 140, the vertical sliding stage 150, andthe guiding element 200 are made of engineering plastics, such aspolyoxymethylene (POM). The friction wheels 132 and 152, and the drivenwheels 133 and 153 are made of synthetic rubber. The Young's modulus andthe shear modulus of the engineering plastics are high enough and themagnetic susceptibility is low, and therefore the engineering plasticsare suitable for the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10because the engineering plastics could avoid electromagnetic waveinterference and maintain the rigidity of the MRI-compatiblestereotactic surgery device 10.

FIG. 5 illustrates the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10according to some embodiments of the present invention. TheMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 further includes acontrolling computer 160 electrically connected to the piezoelectricmotor 131 of the horizontal sliding stage 130, the piezoelectric motor151 of the vertical sliding stage 150, the linear piezoelectric motors240 and 250 and the rotary piezoelectric motor 260 of the guidingelement 200. The controlling computer 160 is configured to drive thepiezoelectric motors 131 and 151, the linear piezoelectric motors 240and 250, and the rotary piezoelectric motor 260, thereby controlling theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 with five degrees offreedom (i.e., the first direction θ₁, the second direction θ₂, thethird direction θ₃, the fourth direction δ, and the fifth direction ζ).The controlling computer 160 is further configured to reduce relativeslide error between the friction wheel 132 and the horizontal arc-shapedslide 120 according to relative movement between the friction wheel 132and the horizontal arc-shaped slide 120 which is recorded by the opticalencoder 134; the controlling computer 160 is further configured toreduce relative slide error between the friction wheel 152 and thevertical arc-shaped slide 140 according to relative movement between thefriction wheel 152 and the vertical arc-shaped slide 140 which isrecorded by the optical encoder 154. It is worth mentioning that thereare optical encoders respectively corresponding to the linearpiezoelectric motors 240 and 250 and the rotary piezoelectric motor 260.Therefore, the controlling computer 160 could perform the closed-loopfeedback control so as to reduce relative slide error according to therelative movement recorded by the optical encoder 134, the opticalencoder 154, and the optical encoders respectively corresponding to thelinear piezoelectric motors 240 and 250 and the rotary piezoelectricmotor 260.

The MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 further includesplural signal lines (not shown) connected from the controlling computer160 to the piezoelectric motors 131 and 151, the linear piezoelectricmotors 240 and 250, and the rotary piezoelectric motor 260. It is notedthat the aforementioned signal lines are covered by electromagneticinterference shielding material (such as the tinned copper wire wrap) soas to avoid electromagnetic wave interference.

The controlling computer 160 is built in a forward kinematics model andan inverse kinematics model so as to calculate parameters correspondingto five degrees of freedom of the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgerydevice 10 and the perform a MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method,thereby driving the piezoelectric motors 131 and 151, the linearpiezoelectric motors 240 and 250, and the rotary piezoelectric motor 260to control the surgery cannula 210 to insert into suitable positon forthe stereotactic surgery.

FIG. 6 illustrates the flow chart of the MRI-guided stereotactic surgerymethod 1000 according to some embodiments of the present invention. TheMRI-guided stereotactic surgery method 1000 includes the following steps1100-1900. In step 1100, coordinates of a surgery target point of thesurgery cannula 210 and an insertion direction of the surgery cannula210 are assigned by, for example, the doctor. The coordinates of thesurgery target point correspond to the coordinates in free space or thecoordinates of a MRI scanner. In step 1200, a coordinate transformationis performed to transform the coordinates of the surgery target pointinto an insertion position of the surgery target point. It is noted thatthe insertion position and the insertion direction are suitable for theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10, and thus the controllingcomputer 160 of the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 couldtherefore calculate parameters corresponding to five degrees of freedomof the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10, therebycontrolling the surgery cannula 210 to perform the stereotactic surgery.

In step 1300, the insertion position and the insertion direction aresubstituted into the inverse kinematics model built in the controllingcomputer 160 to obtain five parameters respectively corresponding tofive degrees of freedom of the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgerydevice 10. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the parametersin step 1300 are obtained by utilizing a Newton-Raphson iterativemethod. Please note that the coordinate transformation in step 1200 andthe computation of the inverse kinematics model in step 1300 are knownin the related technical field, and thus the present disclosure will notfurther discuss.

In step 1400, the piezoelectric motors 131 and 151, the linearpiezoelectric motors 240 and 250, and the rotary piezoelectric motor 260of the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 are controlledaccording to the parameters obtained in step 1300 so as to start astereotactic surgery procedure, thereby inserting the surgery cannula210 to perform the stereotactic surgery.

In step 1500, an actual cannula position is obtained according to amagnetic resonance (MR) image providing by a magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) scanner. It is noted that due to several kinds of the reasons, theactual cannula position of the surgery cannula 210 may not the same asthe insertion position of the surgery cannula 210. Therefore, the MRimage is required for fine tuning the inserting of the surgery cannula210.

In step 1600, the actual cannula position is compared with the surgerytarget point to obtain a position error vector. In some embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the position error vector is obtained bysubtracting the actual cannula position from the surgery target point.

After the step 1600, performing step 1700: determining whether theposition error vector is acceptable. When the position error vector isacceptable, performing step 1800: withdrawing the surgery cannula tofinish the stereotactic surgery procedure. When the position errorvector is not acceptable, performing step 1900.

FIG. 7 illustrates the flow chart of the step 1900 of the MRI-guidedstereotactic surgery method 1000 according to some embodiments of thepresent invention. The step 1900 includes steps 1910-1970. In step 1910,a compensation quantity is calculated according to the position errorvector obtained in step 1600. In some embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the compensation quantity Δθ is calculated by the followingequations (1) and (2):

$\begin{matrix}{{{{p\left( {\theta^{0} + {\Delta\theta}} \right)} \approx {{p\left( \theta^{0} \right)} + \frac{\partial p}{\partial\theta}}}❘}_{\theta = \theta^{0}}{\Delta\theta}} & (1)\end{matrix}$${{{{p\left( {\theta^{0} + {\Delta\theta}} \right)} - {p\left( \theta^{0} \right)}} = \frac{\partial p}{\partial\theta}}❘}_{\theta = \theta^{0}}{\Delta\theta}$${{{\Delta p} = \frac{\partial p}{\partial\theta}}❘}_{\theta = \theta^{0}}{\Delta\theta}$$\begin{matrix}{\left. {{{\Delta\theta} = \left\lbrack \frac{\partial p}{\partial\theta} \right.}❘}_{\theta = \theta^{0}} \right\rbrack^{- 1}\Delta p} & (2)\end{matrix}$

p=(p_(x), p_(y), p_(z)). θ=(θ₃, θ₄, ζ). θ₄=tan⁻¹(δ/112.7). θ₀ representsthe parameters θ₃, θ₄, ζ corresponding to the actual cannula position.The above equation (1) represents that the compensation quantity Δθ iscalculated by a Taylor series expansion around θ₀. The above equations(1) and (2) represent that the compensation quantity Δθ is calculated byutilizing a Jacobian square matrix

$\left( \frac{\partial p}{\partial\theta} \right)$

based on the position error vector Δp, and the Jacobian square matrix

$\left( \frac{\partial p}{\partial\theta} \right)$

are 3×3 square matrix so as to improve the compensating efficiency. Theabove equation (1) represents that the relationship between thecompensation quantity Δθ and the position error vector Δp. It is notedthat the compensation (the compensation quantity Δθ) and thecorresponding adjustment are only directed at the third direction θ₃,the fourth direction δ, and the fifth direction ζ so as to fine tune thesurgery cannula 210.

In step 1920, three of the parameters are adjusted according to thecompensation quantity obtained in step 1910. In step 1930, the linearpiezoelectric motors 240 and 250, and the rotary piezoelectric motor 260of the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 are controlledaccording to the adjusted parameters, thereby withdrawing the surgerycannula 210, adjusting the insertion position and the insertiondirection of the surgery cannula 210, and inserting the surgery cannula210 again. In step 1940, the actual cannula position is updatedaccording to the MR image updating by the MRI scanner. In step 1950, theupdated actual cannula position is compared with the surgery targetpoint to update the position error vector. After the step 1950,performing step 1960: determining whether the updated position errorvector is acceptable. When the updated position error vector isacceptable, performing step 1970: withdrawing the surgery cannula tofinish the stereotactic surgery procedure. When the updated positionerror vector is not acceptable, performing back to step 1910.

It is noted that the traditional stereotactic surgery needs relativelylong time for preoperative preparation and performing the operation. Forexample, the traditional stereotactic surgery needs to perform computedtomography (CT) and image registration between the MR image and CT imagefor preoperative preparation. The present disclosure does not need thecomputed tomography (CT) or the image registration between the MR imageand CT image for preoperative preparation. For example, the traditionalstereotactic surgery needs to perform the medical test (i.e., biopsy) toconfirm the inserting position because the traditional stereotacticsurgery does not have MR image to assist the inserting surgery. Thepresent disclosure does not need to perform the biopsy medical test, thepresent disclosure utilizes the MR image for instantly feedback thecannula position. In other words, the MRI-guided stereotactic surgerymethod 1000 save more time for stereotactic surgery.

From the above description, the present disclosure provides theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 and the MRI-guidedstereotactic surgery method 1000. The MRI-compatible stereotacticsurgery device 10 with five degrees of freedom is designed to beMRI-compatible, and therefore the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgerydevice 10 could be directly operated in the MRI environment. In otherwords, the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device 10 could avoidelectromagnetic wave interference, thereby suitable for the MRIstereotactic surgery. The MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method 1000utilizes the MR image to instantly guide the actual cannula position soas to correct inserting of the surgery cannula based on the instantlyfeedback MR image, thereby enhancing the accuracy and the efficiency ofthe stereotactic surgery and enhancing safety of the patients.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detailwith reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments arepossible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims shouldnot be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method,comprising: assigning coordinates of a surgery target point of a surgerycannula and an insertion direction of the surgery cannula; performingcoordinate transformation to transform the coordinates of the surgerytarget point into an insertion position of the surgery target point;substituting the insertion position and the insertion direction into aninverse kinematics model to obtain five parameters respectivelycorresponding to five degrees of freedom of a MRI-compatiblestereotactic surgery device; controlling the MRI-compatible stereotacticsurgery device according to the parameters to start a stereotacticsurgery procedure, thereby inserting the surgery cannula; obtaining anactual cannula position according to a magnetic resonance (MR) imageproviding by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner; comparing theactual cannula position with the surgery target point to obtain aposition error vector; and withdrawing the surgery cannula to finish thestereotactic surgery procedure when the position error vector isacceptable.
 2. The MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method of claim 1,wherein when the position error vector is not acceptable, the MRI-guidedstereotactic surgery method further comprises: calculating acompensation quantity according to the position error vector; adjustingthree of the parameters according to the compensation quantity;controlling the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device according tothe adjusted parameters, thereby withdrawing the surgery cannula,adjusting the insertion position and the insertion direction of thesurgery cannula, and inserting the surgery cannula again; updating theactual cannula position according to the MR image updating by the MRIscanner; comparing the updated actual cannula position with the surgerytarget point to update the position error vector; and withdrawing thesurgery cannula to finish the stereotactic surgery procedure when theupdated position error vector is acceptable.
 3. The MRI-guidedstereotactic surgery method of claim 2, wherein the compensationquantity is calculated by a Taylor series expansion and by utilizing aJacobian square matrix based on the position error vector.
 4. TheMRI-guided stereotactic surgery method of claim 1, wherein theparameters are obtained by utilizing a Newton-Raphson iterative method.5. The MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method of claim 1, wherein theMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device comprises a based plate, ahorizontal arc-shaped slide fixed on the base plate and a horizontalsliding stage disposed on the horizontal arc-shaped slide, wherein thehorizontal sliding stage comprises a first friction wheel in rollingfriction contact with the horizontal arc-shaped slide, wherein thehorizontal sliding stage moves along the horizontal arc-shaped slide ina first direction through the first friction wheel, wherein the firstdirection corresponds to a first degree of freedom of a MRI-compatiblestereotactic surgery device, wherein the horizontal arc-shaped slidecomprises a first driven wheel for recording relative movement betweenthe first friction wheel and the horizontal arc-shaped slide, whereinthe MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method further comprises: measuringamount of rotation of the first driven wheel by utilizing a firstoptical encoder connected to the first driven wheel, thereby recordingrelative movement between the first friction wheel and the horizontalarc-shaped slide.
 6. The MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method of claim5, wherein the MRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device furthercomprises a vertical arc-shaped slide fixed on the horizontal slidingstage and a vertical sliding stage disposed on the vertical arc-shapedslide, wherein the vertical sliding stage comprises a second frictionwheel in rolling friction contact with the vertical arc-shaped slide,wherein the vertical sliding stage moves along the vertical arc-shapedslide in a second direction through the second friction wheel, whereinthe second direction corresponds to a second degree of freedom of aMRI-compatible stereotactic surgery device, wherein the verticalarc-shaped slide comprises a second driven wheel for recording relativemovement between the second friction wheel and the vertical arc-shapedslide, wherein the MRI-guided stereotactic surgery method furthercomprises: measuring amount of rotation of the second driven wheel byutilizing a second optical encoder connected to the second driven wheel,thereby recording relative movement between the second friction wheeland the vertical arc-shaped slide.